Library Journal(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.This is a massive work dealing with the history of the people and the science that preceded and then made possible the development of the atomic bomb. Heavily biographical, the book provides portraits of the many players from Szilard and Einstein to Oppenheimer. Rhodes includes detailed explanations of the various scientific discoveries beginning in the late 19th century which culminated in the Manhattan Project. The book is heavily documented and includes a 13-page bibliography. This is a definitive work, well written, with a gripping story. It is not an easy book to read, but it is well worth the effort. BOMC alternate. Hilary D. Burton, Lawrence Livermore National Lab., Livermore, Cal. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

ChoiceCopyright American Library Association, used with permission.This is a book that should be appreciated by a wide general audience. In what is the first comprehensive story of the atomic bomb, Rhodes leads readers through a wonderfully complex maze of historical coincidence, scientific discovery, and the geopolitics of the mid 20th century. Rhodes's thesis is that the bomb, the most dramatic creation of our time, was a product of scientific research stretching back to the early 20th century, of the personality quirks of scientists, and of the needs of wartime strategists. That the US won the first atomic race was also a product of accident and cleverness. For example, Germany's atomic research was slowed both by the inability of German leaders to understand the bomb's potential early on and of the Allies' ability to sabotage Germany's atomic capacity. Rhodes also notes that even the Japanese had an infant atomic program, something that will surprise many readers. The great achievement of Rhodes is the way in which he weaves the material together. The bomb was not just a scientific accomplishment, although the author uses great skill in making the science and the excitement of discovery plain for even the most scientifically illiterate reader. Rhodes brings all the pieces together, leaving his audience with the whole story and with a real sense of pleasure of having read history at its best. Highly recommended for all libraries.-N.R. Eder, Pacific Northwest College of Art

Publishers Weekly(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reservedThe breadth and scope of this gripping narrative is almost as impressive as the story itself. Rhodes ( Looking for America describes the theoretical origins of the bomb, the lab experiments, the building of the prototype, the test at Alamagordo, the training of the B-29 crews assigned to deliver the first two combat bombs and the missions themselves. There's much more. Rhodes, gifted with sharp psychological insight and a novelist's ability to convey character, reveals the personalities and emotional dynamics among Niels Bohr, Leo Szilard, Enrico Fermi, Edward Teller, Ernest Lawrence, Robert Oppenheimer, General Leslie Groves, Colonel Paul Tibbets and others responsible for conceiving, engineering, testing and ultimately dropping the apocalyptic devices on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In addition he describes the struggle in Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan to make the first bomb, as well as the political and military events that led inexorably to the destruction of the Japanese cities. This is the most comprehensive and authoritative book on the subject to date. Illustrations. BOMC alternate. (February) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved